I love to partake of a serving of half boiled okras. This versatile vegetable is cheap and is available all year round. It contains nutrients such as vitamins A, B6, C, folic acid, calcium, iron, potassium, and magnesium. A serving of a half cup of half boiled okras provide the body with soluble fiber that helps in lowering cholesterol. This reduces the risk of heart disease. It has insoluble fiber that helps to keep a healthy intestinal tract to prevent colon and rectal cancer.

The superior fiber found in okra helps stabilize blood sugar. It curbs the rate at which sugar is absorbed from the intestinal tract. The mucilage present in okra not only binds cholesterol but also bile acid carrying toxins dumped into it by the filtering liver. Toxins which cause numerous health problems are eliminated.

Unlike harsh wheat bran which irritate or injure the intestinal tract, the mucilage and smooth characteristic of the okra soothes and facilitates elimination more comfortably. The fiber in okra, as well as flax and psyllium are among the best fibers for feeding the good bacteria known as the probiotics.

Eat okra regularly. This vegetable is easily cooked and does not need elaborate preparation. Just half boil it and dip it in your favorite sauce. It has no adverse side affects, is full of nutrients, and it is economically within the reach of everyone.

The average person is able to assimilate between 1% to 35% of the nutrients in vegetables. All nutrients of vegetables are locked within the fibers. Your digestive system acts like a juice extractor. Through chewing, the action of saliva, digestive juices and enzymes, the body separates fiber and nutrients for absorption through the colon wall into the bloodstream. As the waste and fiber exit the body, soft, sponge-like tissues gently clean and massage the colon wall.

Most people have never eaten a 5 lb. bag of carrots. If they did, it would take a day to digest the nutrients. Yet, in juicing 5 lbs. of carrots, your body is able to assimilate phenomenal amounts of minerals, vitamins, trace minerals, and complex simple sugars, depositing vital enzymes into your enzyme bank.

A juice extractor is able to extract 70% to 98% of the nutrients from vegetables. When you pass a carrot through the juice machine, it effectively separates the juice that is locked in the fibers. The juice of the vegetable is like the blood of the body, containing all necessary elements that build, cleanse and nourish. In drinking the juice, the majority of nutrients are absorbed directly into the bloodstream without the work of digestion. An abundant supply of nutrients in conjunction with minimum digestive effort is a perfect healing environment.

This is not to say that all vegetables should be consumed in the form of juices. Roughage is vital to human health. Although fiber has no nutritional value, it is necessary for maintaining a healthy bowel and removing toxic waste in the colon.
It is best to consume the juice as fresh as possible. However, if you are working while juice fasting, making juice three to four times per day is impossible. Juice can be made in the morning and stored in a thermos. Although the juice will have lower enzyme content, vitamins and minerals will be present, supplying the body with the nutrients needed for healing.

The charismatic carrot is the favorite among vegetables for juicing. They sweeten vegetable juice combinations, adding beta-carotene, and are cheap and easy to juice. You can add a variety of other juices to carrot juice. Beets and lemons really spice up carrot juice. Celery, red pepper, cucumber, apple, and cider vinegar will add more nutrients and enhance flavor. After experimenting with various mixtures, you will find blends to activate your 9,000 taste buds.Orange, grape, melon and strawberry taste great alone. But, hey—let’s have some fun! Sipping strawberry, apple, and blueberry juice is a taste of liquid heaven. A few suggestions will get you started as a fruit juice inventor. It’s really hard to go wrong.

Fruits and vegetables are usually sprayed with various pesticides, but most of the toxins are left with the discarded pulp. Fruit is lower on the food chain than animal products, and toxic build-up is much less. Unlike meat, fruit and vegetables are equipped with antioxidants and detoxifying agents that help keep the body clean of toxins.

Yes, fruits and vegetables do have pesticides and toxins present, but eating from a diet high in raw fruits and vegetables will assist your body in remaining protected, mucus-free and clean. If you are blessed enough to afford organic, pesticide-free produce, I encourage you to enjoy the blessing. But for most of us, organic is simply not an option. Juicing standard produce from the local grocery store has healed many desperately sick, even terminal cancers. Almost all the healing testimonies you are about to read were of people on fasts using store bought produce. Do your best and God will do the rest.

During a cleansing fast, do not resort to bottled, dead juices that have been on the shelf for six months. You are setting yourself up for a more difficult fast. There is a rush of well-being when you swallow a mouthful of living juice. Fruit and vegetable juices are the cleansers, energizers, builders and regenerators of the human system. A combination of either fresh raw fruit or vegetable juices will supply all the enzymes, vitamins, minerals, protein and fats critical to increased vitality!

Do you want to look young, healthy and beautiful? You better start eating jute leaves or “saluyot”.  Research reveals that this plant originated in Egypt and was the source of health and beauty of the Egyptian royalties, including Cleopatra. Due to the high anti-oxidant activity of  saluyot, eating it reduces the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines in the face and body. Regular consumption of saluyot can make you appear young.

This vegetable popularly known as “Saluyot” is a favorite vegetable of the Ilocanos. Saluyot thrives almost anywhere in the Philippines, requires little care in cultivation, and can be grown year-round. This green, leafy vegetable  is rich in beta-carotene for good eyesight, iron for healthy red blood cells, calcium for strong bones and teeth, and vitamin C for smooth, clear skin, strong immune cells, and fast wound-healing. Vitamins A, C and E present in Saluyot “sponge-up” free radicals, scooping them up before they can commit cellular sabotage.

Saluyot can be prepared into dishes like dinengdeng of the Ilocano, bulanglang, or sauteed with bamboo shoots or dried beans.  It can be steamed and pureed, mixed with chicken, or prepared into soup like how the Japanese prepare it as molohiya.

One-half cup cooked saluyot leaves contains:

1.3g protein, 0.3g fat, 3.1g carbohydrates, 0.4g fiber, 87.3mg calcium, 22.5mg phosphorous, 1334Aug AY-carotene or 222Aug Retinol Equivalent(vitamin A), 1.0mg iron, 0.02mg thiamin, 0.04mg riboflavin, 0.3mg niacin, and 10mg Ascorbic Acid or vitamin C.  Saluyot has an antioxidant activity of 77% or Au-tocopherol equivalent (vitamin E) of 48.9.

A good dinner is never complete without fresh green salad. Here is my version of a simple green salad that is cheap but complete. It takes approximately 15 minutes to prepare:

Ingredients:
• 6 cups torn pieces of iceberg and/or romaine lettuce
• 2 small tomatoes, cored and cut into wedges
• 1 medium-size cucumber, peeled and sliced
• 1 medium-size sweet green pepper, cut into rings
• 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled for the dressing
• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground pepper

Just follow this simple procedure:

Toss together lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber in a serving bowl. Top with green pepper rings and feta cheese.Set aside. Whisk together all the ingredients for the salad dressing. When ready to serve, toss salad with the dressing. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Ampalaya is a vegetable grown throughout the Philippines.  It is mostly cultivated, although some grows wild in the remote areas. It has a bitter due to the presence of momordicin.  The leaves are also widely used for cooking. The bitter gourd or bitter melon has a distinct warty looking exterior and an oblong shape.  It is hollow in cross-section, with a relatively thin layer of flesh surrounding a central seed cavity filled with large flat seeds and pith.  Seeds and pith appear white in unripe fruits, and turns red as it ripens.  They are not bitter and is removed before cooking. The flesh of the ripe bitter melon is tough to be eaten.  It is best to cook the bitter melon when it has not ripened.

The red and sweet bitter melon pith is a popular ingredient in some special Southeast Asian style salad. The flesh is crunchy and watery in texture similar to a cucumber, chayote or green bell pepper. The skin is tender and edible. The fruit is often eaten at its best when it is green and unripe. It may be eaten when it has ripened but it becomes bitter and mushy.

Bitter melon comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some maybe oblong with tapered ends and paler green color like those found in China.  The bitter melon typical of India has a narrower shape with pointed ends, and a surface covered with jagged, triangular “teeth” and ridges. The color may vary from green to white. This may be served individually as stuffed vegetables.

The bitter taste of the bitter melon can be moderated by salting and then washing the cut melon before use. Or it may be cut according to desired size and can be soaked in tap water minutes before it is cooked. The bitter flavor is typically used in Chinese cooking by stir frying and served with oyster sauce.  In Indian cooking, it is often fried and then stuffed with other spicy ingredients. In Indonesia, bitter melon is prepared in various dishes like stir fry, cooked in coconut milk or steamed. In Vietnam, it is cut in slices and served raw and eaten with dried meat floss. It is served stuffed with ground pork.

In the Philippines, bitter gourd or bitter melon is popularly known as the ampalaya. It is often stir-fried with ground beef and oyster sauce, or with eggs and diced tomatoes.  A very popular dish from the Ilocos region of the Philippines, pinakbet, consists mainly of bitter melons, eggplants, okra, string beans, tomatoes, lima beans and other various regional vegetables stewed with fish sauce. The young shoots and leaves may be eaten as greens.

You will find fields of chayote in sunny California, but they might be called mirliton instead. Chayote or mirliton is also used in Cajun and Southern cuisines. Sayote, in the Philippines, particularly in the Benguet Province, it is called the “green gold vegetable”. It is a sustainable vegetable in the market because it is available throughout the year.

Chayote or sayote is a green, papaya shaped vegetable, a bit hairy and belongs to the gourd family, just like cucumber, watermelon and pumpkin.  The cucurbit is also known as chayote or sechium edule. Some look like a pear-shaped squash with delicate green or white ridged skin.  It has a single large seed that can be easily removed with a spoon.  The moist flesh tastes like a cross between an apple and a cucumber.

Use chayote in cooking as you would zuchini or other summer squash. The skin is edible. Sayote can be stored in the refrigerator in a plastic bag for up to 2 weeks.

Every time I order food in a restaurant, I would always look at the menu and include a serving of a bean curd recipe. Tofu, also known as bean curd is a food of Chinese origin. I am a tofu lover for the simple reason that it satisfies my carnivorous cravings. I am not a vegetarian yet, but I am careful and wary of my meat intake. Thus, tofu has been my meat substitute for many years now. The search for my ultimate tofu recipe has never stopped.

Tofu is made by coagulating soy milk, and then pressing the curds formed into blocks. Tofu, on its own has a very little flavor or smell, so it can be used either in savory or sweet dishes, it can be seasoned or marinated, depending on the dish requirements.

Tofu is low in calories and has no saturated fat. It contains beneficial amounts of iron, especially needed by women of child bearing age and those in the premenopausal stage.  Depending on the production and the kind of coagulant used in producing the tofu, it may contain high amounts of calcium which is very important to bone development and maintenance. Tofu has significant contents of magnesium which is important to athletes. Tofu, also contains soy isoflavones, which duplicates natural human estrogens and may have a variety of beneficial and harmful effects, depending on quantities consumed.

There is a wide variety of tofu available in both Western and Eastern markets. Tofu production are classified into two categories. It is either the fresh tofu which is made directly from soy milk and the processed tofu, which is produced from fresh tofu.

Fresh tofu are produced into three different varieties: The soft/silken tofu which is also known as “soft tofu” or “smooth tofu.” In Japan, it is called the “silk-filtered tofu” and the Koreans call it “pure tofu”. Another variety of soft tofu is called the tofu brain. It is often eaten as dessert, because of its very soft texture, it could not be eaten with chopsticks and instead a teaspoon is used.

The Asian firm tofu also known as “cotton tofu” in Japan still contains a great amount of moisture. It has the firmness of raw meat but springs back readily when pressed. The texture of the inside of this tofu is similar to that of a custard. The skin of this firm tofu is more resilient to damage than the inside.

The Western firm/dried tofu is extra firm with the least amount of moisture. It has the firmness of fully cooked meat and a rubbery feel. When sliced thinly, this kind of tofu can be crumbled easily. Western firm tofu is milled and molded after the pressing and formed flat and sliced into long strips with a cross section. It resembles loose cooked noodles and can be served cold for stir-fried.

There is a need to preserve the fresh tofu, thus the tofu had to be processed in different ways to achieve unique textures and flavors. One method used in preserving fresh tofu is fermentation. A classic example of fermented tofu is the pickled tofu. It is cubed tofu that have been allowed to fully air-dry under hay and slowly fermented from aerial bacteria. It is then soaked in salt water, Chinese wine, vinegar and minced chillies or in a unique mixture of whole rice, bean paste, and soybeans.

Another fermented tofu is the stinky tofu. It is a soft tofu that has been fermented in vegetable and fish brine. The blocks of tofu smell strongly of certain pungent cheeses and are described by many as rotten and fecal. This tofu is fried to a crisp, usually served with soy sauce, sweet sauce and/or hot sauce.

The flavored tofu was innovated to preserve the fresh tofu. Sugar, fruit acids, and flavorants are mixed directly into curdling soy milk while the tofu is being produced. The product is what we call the sweet dessert tofus which include the peanut tofu, almond tofu, mango tofu, coconut tofu. These sweet tofus have the texture of silken tofu and are served cold.

Another famous flavored tofu is the Savory Egg Tofu often called the “Japan Bean Curd”. Whole beaten eggs are filtered and incorporated into the soy milk before the coagulant is added. The infusion of egg makes the tofu to have a fuller texture and flavor than a silken tofu.

Frying is the easiest method of preserving fresh tofu. All forms of tofus could be fried, except for the softest tofu. Thin and soft varieties are deep fried in oil until they are light and crispy. Asian firm tofus and dry tofu can be cut into bite-sized cubes or triangles and deep fried until golden and crisp. This maybe served with sauces or maybe cooked longer in sauce. This is also best added to hot pot dishes.

Frying, as a method of cooking tofu is my favorite.  Fried tofu is very versatile. I have been adventurous and experimental especially with sauces and side dishes.  My favorite vegetables complement the tasty tofu. It could be served with a wide variety of other foods. I have to remind you though,  be choosy with your choice of cooking oil.

This healthy soup recipe was a favorite of my children, my nephews and nieces. It is for children who turn up their noses at vegetables. This creamy, light green soup will surely tempt them. They will surely love vegetables after tasting this soup. To thicken the soup, you can add left over mashed potatoes. You can also add other green vegetables in equal measure.

Ingredients:
• 1 cup homemade chicken stock
• 1 cup water
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 1/2 cups fresh broccoli, chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups milk
• 4 tablespoons instant mashed potato powder
• 3 tablespoons butter
• pinch of ground pepper
• pinch of nutmeg

Procedure:

In a soup pot, heat the stock and water over medium heat. Add the onion, broccoli, and salt and cook for 10 minutes, or until tender. Puree half of the vegetables with half of the liquid in a blender or processor until smooth, then repeat with the other half. Be sure to vent the steam.

Heat the milk in a large saucepan until bubbles form on the edges. Stir in the mashed potato powder, butter and nutmeg and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in the pureed broccoli and onion. Adjust seasoning according to taste.

Ladle into individual soup bowls. This soup recipe keeps well overnight and can be frozen. Serves 4 to 6. It is best served hot. It could also be served cold, depending on the preference.

In my research, I have come across materials that state that gallstones may lead to cancer. It is believed that cancer is never the first illness. Usually, there are a lot of other problems that lead to cancer.

Research materials from China reveal that people with cancer usually have stones. We all have gallstones but the size and number make the difference. One of the symptoms of gallstones is a feeling of bloatedness after a heavy meal. The feeling of indigestion is more prominent when it gets more serious. There is pain in the liver area.

If your self examination reveal you think you have gallstones, then healthy eating or a healthy diet will eventually ease you if observed religiously and diligently. The following method is suggested to remove gallstones naturally. The treatment is also good for those who have weak liver, because of the close proximity of the gallbladder and the liver:

Method:

For the first five days, take four glasses of apple juice every day, or eat four to five apples a day, whichever is more convenient and preferred. Apple juice softens the gallstones. During this 5 days, eat your regular meal.
On the sixth day, take no dinner. At 6 o’clock in the evening, take a teaspoon of Epsom salt (Magnesium sulphate) with a glass of warm water. Repeat the same at 8 o’clock or 2 hours after. Magnesium sulphate opens the gallbladder ducts.
After two hours, that is around 10 o’clock in the evening, mix half a cup of olive oil or sesame oil with half cup fresh lemon juice. Drink the mixture slowly. The oil lubricates the stones to ease passage.
Observe your bowel movement the following morning, you will find stones in your stools. Usually they float. You might want to count them and see how many of this stones are causing your toxins overload in your body.

It is recommended that, even if you do not have symptoms of having gallstones, it is always good to give your gall bladder a clean-up now and then.

Dengue fever is one of the dreaded diseases that has plagued so many children and adults alike. When dengue strikes, the platelet count of the victim plunges down to a dangerous and critical level that becomes fatal. Research shows that the nutritional content of camote tops or sweet potato greens can counter attack the downfall of the platelet count of anyone hit by dengue fever.

Camote tops or sweet potato greens are always available in the market any time of the year. It is easily grown and does not require special maintenance or fertilizers to grow. The root crops are edible and are good substitute to rice.

Here is the procedure on how to prepare the Camote Tops Juice:

A sheaf or a bundle has approximately 20 cuttings. Each cutting measures about 1 foot. Wash the cuttings very well to take out the soil and other dirt particles. Boil the camote tops for at least 5 minutes. Add a little salt to give flavor or a little sugar to make it easier to drink. Let the patient drink slowly and gradually. The camote tops can be served as a salad or an appetizer.

The body’s immunity system is thus revived, making dengue helpless against the body’s natural defenses. Camote tops enables the body to heal itself. People no longer need to die needlessly from dengue, because the cure is just all around us. The lowly camote tops or sweet tomato greens can save lives.

Fortify the health of your family against dengue by drinking camote tops juice.